


The Unfortunate Incident of the Book Swap

by gentleleaves



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Annette's singing, F/M, Felannie Mini-Bang 2020, Fluff, Mentioned Dorothea Arnault, Mentioned Hilda Valentine Goneril, Mentioned Mercedes von Martritz, Mentioned Sylvain Jose Gautier, Slow Dancing, Songwriting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:13:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26329951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gentleleaves/pseuds/gentleleaves
Summary: When Felix and Annette accidentally switch notebooks, they suddenly find themselves closer than ever. For Felannie mini-bang 2020!
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42
Collections: Felannie Mini Bang 2020





	The Unfortunate Incident of the Book Swap

**Author's Note:**

> My fic for the Felannie mini-bang 2020! I was so lucky to be able to able to do this and to work with such an amazing [artist!](https://twitter.com/ayanthos) I haven't written since December, so I'm really excited about this. I'm pretty proud of it! I've had writer's block for a long time and this helped me break it and write for my favorite FE3H ship. I really hope you guys enjoy it!

She knew she should’ve personalized her notebook better. Mercie had told her she’d get it confused with someone else’s, or she’d lose it, but she just never had the time. She was studying, or she was training, or she was baking… she was always doing something else. Besides, no one was ever even going to see that thing!. It was just going to stay on her desk, and that was it!. That was where it was always supposed to be, anyway.

He never cared about decorating his notebook. It was plain, simple, practical. . The girls liked to decorate theirs. Hilda and Dorothea always made a day out of it. Even Sylvain joined them, though it probably wasn’t for the decorations. He never saw the point, though. No one else was ever even going to see that thing. It was just going to stay on his desk, and that was it. That was where it was always supposed to be, anyway.

All Felix wanted to do, at least at the current moment, was train. Their next mission was fast approaching and he needed to be ready. What he wanted didn’t seem to matter, though, at least not today, as Annette had seemingly made it her mission to not leave him alone.

“Pretty please, Felix? The whole house is coming, you have to come!”

“No.”

“But Felix…”

“I said no.”

“I won’t leave you alone until you say yes!”

“Fine.”

She pouted, but stuck to her promise. Every five minutes, she made her invitation with a “So, will you come?” And every five minutes, she was shot down. Training, eating dinner, cleaning his room, she insisted on accompanying him through all of it. When it came time to sleep, she sat herself down in the chair at his desk.

“What are you doing?” He sounded irritated.

“I told you. I’m not leaving until you say yes!”

“But I’m going to bed.”

“So what?”

With that, Felix sighed. “If I agree, will you let me sleep in peace?”

She nodded at that, and he gave a reluctant nod. “Fine, I’ll be there. Just let me sleep.”

Upon hearing his words, she gave him the biggest grin he’d ever seen. It was as if she shone brighter than the sun, and he struggled to keep from smiling.

“Great! See you tomorrow, Felix!” She gave a small wave before running off, presumably headed to get some sleep herself. Lonelier than he expected he’d be, Felix went to lie down, preparing to get some rest before what was sure to be a long day.

Despite his exhaustion, though, he was kept up, if only for a little while. It was hard to sleep with the light of her smile blinding his mind.

When morning came, Felix was abruptly awoken by a pounding on the door. “Felix!”

He has to admit, hearing her voice first thing in the morning wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

“Wake up!” Annette yelled, as pounding at his door intensified.

“Huh?” He was groggy, and the sleep clouding his mind. It took him a few moments to realize what was happening.

“You have to come over! You promised!”

“Alright, alright. Give me a minute.” He grimaced slightly, glad she couldn’t see him. After quickly getting dressed, he grabbed his notebook and a pen. He might as well, right? If he was forced to attend some stupid party, he might as well have something to occupy himself with. The moment he stepped out the door to meet Annette, she grabbed his hand eagerly . “Come on!”

Felix tried his best not to flinch at the sudden contact, and although part of him wanted to, he was reluctant to pull away. He simply followed alongside her.

“The whole house is gathering in your room?” he asked, seating himself before her desk and placing his notebook on its surface. “Won’t that be a bit… cramped?”

“That’s what makes it more fun, though!” She was bubbly, clearly extremely excited. And for good reason, because people soon began trickling inside, and Felix realized he was the only one who got an invitation from the hostess herself that morning. As to why, however, he wasn’t sure. Was she afraid he wasn’t going to show up? He didn’t really have time to think on that, as by the time he’d reached this realization, everyone had shown up. The quarters were more cramped than he’d like, but knowing he’d have to deal with it or face Annette’s wrath, he decided he’d rather stay. As much as he hated to admit it, he just didn’t want to upset her.

Despite the cramped space, Annette somehow made it feel more open. She had rearranged her furniture as best as she could to accommodate everyone, and her cheerful voice could make anyone feel as if the walls didn’t exist. As the hours passed, playing games with his classmates didn’t seem like such an awful way to spend his time. In fact, he actually found that he was rather enjoying himself. Maybe he didn’t need to bring his notebook, after all. He realized that, at least in that moment, even spending time with the boar prince wasn’t half bad. What was best of all, though, was Annette.

She was so much more competitive than he’d expected. . She got annoyed with him whenever she lost, calling him a villain, but he lived to see her win. Her eyes would light up, and she would cheer. One game, they played in teams, and when they won, she smiled wide and hugged him unexpectedly, squealing “We did it, Felix!”

Awkwardly, he half-hugged her back. “We sure did.”  
When evening came, people began slowly trickling out. First it was Dedue, claiming exhaustion, and most followed.

Soon, it was only Felix that remained, sitting on the end of Annette’s bed. “I’m going to head back now,” he muttered, somewhat hesitantly.

“See you tomorrow?” she asked, looking hopeful. She was clearly tired, but she looked like she’d had a good time. Giving her a slight smile, he nodded.

“Yeah.” He walked over to her desk to pick up his notebook and pen, making his way over to the door. “Goodnight, Annette.”

“Goodnight, Felix.”

It wasn’t until he opened his notebook the next morning that he discovered it wasn’t his notebook at all.

The handwriting was much prettier than his own, and the words made no sense. Crumbs and yums? And what was a swamp beastie? Skimming through, he realized what it was he was reading. Songs. Probably Annette’s, he thought. No one else would write stuff like this. He must have grabbed her notebook instead. Funny, he thought she’d have been one of the ones to go above and beyond decorating it.

When Annette went to do her morning songwriting, she discovered her songs had been completely replaced. In their place was a complex narrative, an intricate story written in simple neat handwriting. It was extremely well written, she thought, but it certainly wasn’t hers. After a few moments she came to a realization. Someone had her songs. Someone. Had. Her. Songs! What was she going to do? Who even had them?

Think. Think. Think. As hard as she tried, Annette couldn’t think of who might have taken it… and then it hit her. Felix had grabbed something off her desk before he left, right? That jerk, he was trying to steal her songs! He was going to show everyone, and then… and then… she’d be that weird girl! But why did he leave that story, then? Was it meant for her?

While Annette was reaching her own conclusions, Felix, too, had a realization. “Crap.” He murmured to himself, pacing the room. “She has my book. No one’s meant to have my book.” After pacing a few more moments, he grabbed her songbook and headed off to her room, only to run straight into her halfway.

“You have my book.” They spoke in unison, though her voice was noticeably more distressed. “Give it back.” They spoke together once more, clearly both having the same thing on their minds.

“You first!” Annette was clearly flustered, and Felix simply shrugged, handing the book over.  
“And this,” she struggled to get the words out. “This is yours?”

He gave a curt nod. “Can I have it back now?”

“No! I mean- yes, I mean-“

“Just give me my book back, Annette.”

“Felix… did you really write this?”

“I did. What of it?”

“It’s really good… I didn’t expect something like this from you.”

“Wait, you read it?” He should have realized she would have read it. Of course she would have, how else would she have found out it wasn’t hers? He didn’t really register it until now. No one was meant to read it. His cool demeanor began fading away as soon as that realization began to hit him. “Give it back. Give it back right now.”

“No.”

“What the hell do you mean ‘no!?’”

“You got to read through my songs, it’s only fair that I can finish reading yours!”

“What!? It was an accident!”

“That’s what you always say, you villain!”

“It always is!”

With that, Annette ran. She didn’t know why she’d suddenly changed her mind on giving it back. She had originally gone with the intention of exchanging, and yet… seeing his reaction to her having it made part of her want to keep it. Maybe some corner of her wanted him to chase after her. Either way, she knew one thing. She wanted to finish reading it.

Coming to a stop near her room, she pulled out the book and began to read. Skimming through, it was much longer than she thought it would have been. A hundred pages, at least, all filled with the same neat handwriting from top to bottom. It must have taken him a lot of time, she realized, and started to feel bad for taking it. It was payback though, she reassured herself. Payback for everything from the past that he’d done, including taking her songs! She started humming her latest one as she read, finding herself thoroughly involved in the story. He was a much more talented writer than she had ever given him credit for, not that she ever really thought about his writing ability. She was so involved, in fact, that she almost didn’t notice the hand grabbing the book away from her.

“Hey! What the heck?” She asked, before looking up at who it was. “Felix? How did you find me?”

“You’re right outside your room. I know where your room is.”

“I- I knew that!” She was clearly flustered at that remark, and his face softened a bit.

“I’m taking my book back.”

“But I haven’t finished it!”

“You’re not meant to finish it! You’re not even meant to have started it! No one is supposed to read my book!”

“Well, you shouldn’t have taken my songs!”

“That was an accident!”

“That’s what you always say!”

“It always is!” She was growing more and more flustered, and though some part of him enjoyed seeing it, he knew he should stop.

“Whatever.” Felix snapped, plucking his book from her hands. “I’m taking my book back.”

“Felix, wait!” Her message fell on deaf ears, however, as he was already walking away with his book in hand. He cursed himself under his breath for letting it escape his grasp. Why did he even bother bringing it to the party? He should’ve known that was a bad idea. He was a fool to even risk it falling into someone else’s hands. Felix wasn’t exactly known to others as a creative person. If Sylvain had gotten a hold of it? He would have never heard the end of it. He was glad it was Annette, if nothing else. She was kind enough to let it go.

Or so he thought.

The next morning, he was woken by a pounding at his door. “Felix!” A chipper voice cut through the wood. “I need to talk to you!” He groaned and made his way out of bed, stumbling over to the door.

“What is it, Annette? How early is it?” His voice was thick with sleep as he leaned against the doorframe.

“It’s 3 AM.”

“What? Why the hell did you wake me up?”

“I had an idea about your story!” She spoke with a smile, as if this was the most normal thing in the world.

“My… my what?”

“Your story! I couldn’t stop thinking about it since I read it. It’s really good! I just had one idea about the last chap-”

“Hold on. You woke me up at three in the morning to give me input on my story?”

“Well, yeah. Didn’t want to forget it, ya know?” She giggled, and he could feel his heart beat just a little bit faster.

“Annette.”

“What?”

“It’s three in the morning.”

“And?”

“Most people don’t want to be woken up at three in the morning.”

“I thought it was important!”

He sighed at that, but he also couldn’t resist a slight smile. As strange as she was to wake him up so early for this, she was kind of cute. Just a little. “Fine. What is it?”

“Well, you know when the main character-”

“Antonio.”

“When Antonio is climbing, I just feel like you could describe the area better.”

“What?” He had never heard any criticism on his story before, mostly because he’d never allowed anyone else to read it. He must have looked a bit defensive, as she quickly tried to make her intentions clearer.

“I’m just saying! I was able to really imagine everything else, but the mountain he’s climbing? I just couldn’t see it.”

“Okay… thanks.” She began to stare at him, almost expectantly. “What?”

“So, can I come in and help fix it?”

“It’s three in the morning!”

“Yeah, but you need to fix it!”

“Annette.” His tone became more serious.

“What?”

“I want you to think, really think, about what you just asked me.”

“I don’t understand.”

He had to hold back a chuckle, she was as innocent as ever. “You just asked to come in to a man’s room in the middle of the night. There are certain implications behind that, Annie.” The nickname slipped out without thinking, sleep still clouding his thoughts.

“Annie!?” He had never called her by anything but Annette before. Coming from him, Annie somehow seemed… more intimate. “Uh- yeah- um- I’ll go. I’m going. I’ll go. Bye!”

With jumbled words and a red face, she scurried off. Felix shook his head and smiled a moment, looking at her as she left. She was an interesting girl, to say the least. Heading back into his room, he went back towards the bed. It was too early to write.

A few hours later, he woke once again to a pounding at the door. “Felix! It’s a normal time now!”  
Forcing himself out of bed, he opened the door. “Good morning, Annette.”

“Good morning, Felix!” She pushed past him and into the room, ignoring his grumbled words of protest. “So, I was thinking about it more-”

“More?” He interrupted. “Do you even sleep?”

“Well, I tried, but I just couldn’t get it out of my head! It was all I could think about! Even when I did fall asleep briefly, I dreamt about it!”

“You… liked it that much?” He was trying his best not to come across as flustered, though he had a feeling he was failing. He had never really had anyone compliment his work before.

“Of course! Like I said, though, I had this one small problem…”

The next few hours passed this way, Felix’s original plans of training long forgotten. While he was hesitant at first, he soon grew to enjoy his time working with Annette. She brought valuable insight to his story, things he never would’ve thought of without her. Maybe it was a good thing that she’d seen it, after all.

He decided to return the favor.

“Annette…” He trailer off, trying to find the right words for what he was about to say.

“Yeah? What is it?”

He looked at her for a moment before speaking. “I, uh, appreciate the help. I wanted to return the favor… I’d like to help you with your songs.”

“What!?” She shrieked much louder than he thought she would.

“I… uh… well, I’ll be honest with you, Annie. They aren’t great.”

She blushed at the nickname, but pouted nonetheless. “Yeah? And what’s so not great about them? Huh?”

“What in Fodlan is a ‘swamp beastie’?”

The rest of the day passed like this. She would give him writing ideas, and he would give her song ideas. He took her advice in stride while she begrudgingly wrote down his words. The longer they worked, the more they fell into a rhythm. There came a point where they worked almost without words. He simply handed her his book, and within a few short phrases he’d know exactly what he needed to fix or what he needed to do next. He didn’t realize it was evening until the sun had long gone down.

He missed training, and yet… he didn’t particularly mind.

“Jeez, Felix! I forgot! Have you eaten anything today?” Almost on cue, both of their stomachs began to let out a grumble. They had been so caught up that they had completely forgotten. Felix cursed under his breath.

“I haven’t. It’s too late to get a real meal… do you want to try and just scrounge for something in the dining hall? We could-“

“I can cook.”

“Huh?”

“I made you work with me all day! The least I can do is make you some food.” He looked at her with an expression that those who knew him would almost classify as a smile, and he agreed. Candles in hand to help with the darkness that came with the midnight hour, they made their way to the dining hall.

Felix didn’t know what to say while she was cooking. He offered to help, but she simply insisted that she could do it herself. He sat awkwardly at a table as he watched her. He loved the way that the moonlight caught her hair through the open doorway, and the small smile on her face while she cooked. She moved strangely rhythmically for an activity that wasn’t meant to be rhythmic. He could hear her humming a song under her breath, and it took him a moment to realize it was one of the ones he had helped her write. He couldn’t help but stare in awe at how the fire brought out the orange in her hair - wait, what?

He came out of his Annette-induced haze to see the pan on fire with Annette frantically trying to put it out. She was waving her hands frantically and blowing as hard as she could on the flame to put it out.

Which, as expected, only made it worse.

“Ack, ack, ack!” She yelped as her hair, having fallen loose from its constraints sometime over the course of the day, got singed by the flame. Seeing this, Felix promptly picked her up, set her to the side, and went about extinguishing the flame. He fetched some water and put it out before it could do any real damage, and walked back over to her.

“Singed a bit, were you?”

She nodded briefly, looking down at the floor.“You?”

He shook his head, and looked at the girl in front of him. He was surprised to see that she looked incredibly, incredibly sad.

He wasn’t very good at comforting people. He never had been. Still, Annette had helped him today. He had to replay the favor somehow. He took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?”

“I… I just wanted to be able to cook for you. To thank you for letting me help.”

“Why do you have to thank me when you’re the one who helped? I should be thanking you.”

“Well… I guess you’re right…”

He put his hand on her shoulder, in a gesture he was hoping would be comforting. “Let’s just have sandwiches or something, yeah? Not much cooking involved there.”

She gave a slight nod, and they began looking around for ingredients. A few minutes later, they sat across from each other, eating in silence. The normally full dining hall seemed so huge when it held only two people, and it was a strange feeling being there so late. While Annette continued eating, Felix found himself unable to for a moment as he just looked at her. She didn’t notice for a while, and then jumped up a bit when she saw him just staring at her.

“Felix? What are you looking at?” She said, startled.

“You.”

Her face grew redder and redder, its brightness rivaling her hair. “What? Why? Is there something on my face?!”

He let out a slight chuckle. “No, nothing like that.”

“Then why?”

“I just wanted to.” He took a deep breath before uttering his next words. “Thank you, Annette.”

“What for?”

“For helping me today. I’m sorry I wasn’t more accepting of your help at the start. I think… I think my work is a lot better off because of it.”

Annette immediately broke out in a smile. “You don’t need to thank me for that! I just wanted to help and… to spend some more time with you.”

“W-What?” Felix sputtered.

“It feels like all you do is train, Felix! I worry that you’ll get lonely. You should spend more time with your friends!”

“I don’t need to do that.”

“Yes, you do! Spending time with friends is just as important as training!”

“Which is going to save me on the battlefield, Annette? My sword skills, or the power of friendship?”

“Both!”

He sighed. He knew that she was right, at least somewhat. Trust and teamwork were important when battling with a group, but he hated relying on others. Couldn’t he just do it himself? He’d known for a long time that trust was far too easily broken.

They sat in silence for a few moments, before he felt Annette’s hand on his shoulder.

“Just try and open up to people more, okay?” He nodded silently, and looked over at her. Her eyes shone so beautifully in the moonlight. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and that was the case with no one more than Annette. She had the kindest, most beautiful eyes that he had ever seen. Her hair was loose about her shoulders, and he found himself wondering why she didn’t wear it down more. It looked so beautiful.

Almost in an unconscious daze, he found himself reaching out towards it, tucking a strand behind her ear. Then, he found himself uttering words that he never would normally say. He didn’t know if he was drunk on lack of sleep or drunk on her, but he knew he felt more free, less constrained by the walls of his mind.

“You look beautiful in the moonlight, Annie.” He watched as her face grew to match her hair, and he had to hold back a smile. Part of him felt proud that he could do that to her.

“H-huh?”

“I mean it.”

She let out a laugh. “No, no, you’re joking! Ha, that’s funny!”

He stood up, and ran his fingers through her hair. “You know I would never joke about that.” With that, he began walking back towards his room. “It’s late, Annette. We should both get some rest.” He took a deep breath. “You should come over again this weekend.”

She was still flustered, but she gave a quick nod. “O-okay! See you then!” As she watched his retreating figure, she felt her face grow hotter and hotter. That boy! Where did that come from? She looked beautiful in the moonlight? He was the last one she’d expect to hear that from! Her cheeks burning, she went back to her room, her dreams proving to be no escape from his words.

She didn’t see him the next day. She had stopped by the training grounds after lunch, but surprisingly, he was nowhere to be seen. Not that she really knew what to say to him, anyway. Her mind was in overdrive.

Felix just paced his room the entire day. His mind, like hers, was in overdrive. For once, he didn’t feel up to training. Why had he said that? Why had he done that?

And why couldn’t he stop thinking about it?

The minutes felt like hours, and yet the hours felt like minutes. Time passed without reason as he paced back and forth. He needed to think. He’d asked her to come over, but what was he going to do? Sure, they’d work on his story, they’d work on her songs, but what else? Would there be anything else? Did she… want there to be anything else?

It had been a while since Felix dreamt, but that streak was broken that night. Her face filled his dreams, her eyes full of light. They were dancing, and despite the darkness of the room, she still shone as brightly as ever. He couldn’t even hear the music that was surely playing, all he could focus on was her.

She was singing as they swayed, words that they had written together. He found himself softly humming along, and they simply stayed like that. Whatever world was around them, he didn’t care. He just wanted to dance with her.

When Felix woke up, it was still deep in the night. Frankly, he wasn’t sure when he’d even fallen asleep. Nevertheless, he couldn’t get the image of her out of his mind… she looked so beautiful. The way her hair moved as she danced, the way her eyes shone when he spoke her name. The longer he thought about it, the more he knew he couldn’t wait.

Annette woke to a pounding at her door. She rubbed her eyes, softly calling out. “Who is it?”

“It’s me, Annette.”

Upon hearing that voice, she jumped out of bed and opened the door. “Felix!” The moonlight flooded the room as she did so, and the cool night air brushed past her. “What time is it?”

“It’s 3 AM.” He spoke quietly, as if he were afraid of waking anyone. That was a reasonable fear, of course, one she clearly hadn’t felt when she woke him last.

“Huh? Why did you wake me?” He had just been complaining about being woken that early a few days ago, and yet here he was.

He stumbled over his words a little when he began to speak. “I, uh… I needed to talk to you.”

“You woke me at three in the morning because you… wanted to talk to me?”

“If I didn’t do it now… I didn’t think I ever would.” He could feel his heart quicken as he spoke.

“Felix?” Her face was as innocent as ever.

“Yeah, Annie?”

She smiled a bit, and her face lit up. “What is it?”

He took a deep breath, and then grabbed her hand. “Follow me.”

He led her to as secluded of an area as he could, outdoors, where they could see the stars. He looked up at them, then back at her, and he knew that she was the most beautiful thing he could see.

“What are we doing here, Felix?” Her voice pulled him out of a trance, and he gave a slight smile.

“I had a dream about you, you know.” Her face grew redder with every word. “It was beautiful. You… were beautiful.”

“What did you dream about?” She put her hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention right back to her.

“We were dancing, you and I. You sang to me.” He could feel his heart racing as he spoke. Did she want to hear about this? Did she even want to be out here with him? What if he was just making her uncomfortable? What if-

His thoughts were cut off by her grabbing his hand. Gently, she placed it on her waist and then took his other hand in hers.

“Shall we dance, then?”

Normally she was the one to blush, normally she was the one with a look of surprise. But Felix now found himself red-faced and shocked. “You… want to dance with me?”

“Of course I do, silly!” The smile that she gave was dazzling, and he wondered how it was nighttime when clearly the sun was out. Her smile alone lit up the night with the power of a thousand suns, and any man was sure to be blinded. Himself included. He stood there for a moment, unsure of quite how to begin. He knew how to dance, of course, he’d learned when he was a child. But was she sure? Did she really want to dance with him?

She began to hum, and pulled him gently forward. “You lead, Felix.” She gave another smile, and he could see the blush rising on her cheeks. She was just as nervous about this as he was. After a shaky breath, he stepped forward.

Her voice filled the area, overpowering even the sky and the stars. A lot of people would look up at the sky and comment on how beautiful the stars were, or the peace of the night sky, but not Felix. Hell, he didn’t even realize any of that was there anymore. All he could focus on was her. She sang a song that he had helped her write, and her eyes shone. She looked at him unlike ever before.

If you had asked Felix a few days before about his book, he would vehemently deny its existence. He hated people knowing about that side of him. And yet, when Annette found out… he didn’t mind quite as much. He didn’t really know how to process what he was feeling. With anyone else, it felt like a weakness. He had a reputation to uphold. With her, however? It felt more like a strength. It felt like… something that he could be proud of. She made him feel proud.

And that was what mattered most in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys liked it! Please check out the other mini-bang fics, all of the writers and artists are so talented!!!


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